Before I get to the Matt Stajan stuff, let's get the Canucks/Flames brawl out of the way...

I don't have any strong feelings on the subject. I think Hartley definitely iced the goon squad with a view to starting something and I definitely think Tortorella could have countered with a scoring line to defuse the whole thing. Of course, one of the unwritten rules of the North American game is obvious aggression MUST be met with aggression, so Tortorella "couldn't" do anything but fight fire with fire according to the still persistent machismo mores of the NHL. Ironically, had a Sedin vs McGrattan match-up happened organically during the game, Tortorella would have taken it eagerly.

Your Calgary Flames had been mired in a bit of a record breaking slump as late, having not won a match in regulation inside the "friendly confines" of the Scotiabank Saddledome since the Mesozic Era.

It's been a long stretch of pretty dismal hockey here in Cowtown, and it's been 7 games since the faithful has seen the team skate off the ice with 2 points on the board, truly a franchise record we're all super proud of having been able to witness.

Tonight looked like it may have been another tough task, another storm to weather as the Phoenix Coyotes, THE Phoenix Coyotes who embarrassed the Flames 6-0 in front of nobody in Arizona a couple weeks back, ambled into town looking to push the Flames around.

The Calgary Flames (16-27-7) return home from a brief two-game road trip to take on the Phoenix Coyotes (23-17-9). Puck drops at 7:30 pm MT on Sportsnet West. The question is will the home winless streak continue?

The Flames signed centre Matt Stajan to a four-year contract extension worth an AAV of $3.125 million per year. The NHL also announced that Flames coach Bob Hartley was fined $25,000 for the shenanigans on Saturday night. (He got off light, as John Tortorella was banished from the NHL for 15 days/6 games.)

After that gong-show in Vancouver, which I personally attended by the way (did you know the Canucks wrote a song for this season? It's as cool as you would think), the Flames were eager to play hockey again and head into their dressing rooms in peace.

The Flames lost 3-2 to the Sharks though they generally played quite well. Joe Pavelski scored twice, the winning marker coming (off of an offside entry) on the power play, batted out of mid-air.

The Flames faced a very good Sharks squad on a three-game winning streak. Obviously, the Flames were heavily outgunned and over-matched and were going to need a perfect game to win. Unfortunately for the Flames, they came up short against a very tough opponent but played a strong game overall and looked more like the Flames of October than the Flames that completely no-showed against Winnipeg.